Adversity has a way of revealing one's character, and the Toronto Raptors have definitely suffered through their fair share of struggles in the playoffs.
Game 3 represented new low for the Raptors as they got walloped by the Milwaukee Bucks. The disheartening 104-77 loss put the Raptors in a 2-1 hole, where every hard lesson learned over their last three playoff runs looked to be forgotten.
Toronto has since roared back, taking the next two games by 11 and 25 points apiece, and Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll credits a team practice for the turnaround.
"It was just a heated film session, a heated film session between coaches and players," Carroll told reporters following Game 5. "A lot of times when you get in a heated film session, it can go one of two ways - it can go bad or it could go good.
"I feel like we came together, we saw the problem and we just try to keep building from this."
Carroll compared the feeling to when the Raptors held a team meeting following a blowout loss at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder in March. That meeting sparked the Raptors' scorching hot finish to the regular season.
"Same kind of vibe, same kind of thing," Carroll added. "We knew we didn't play good, I think everybody collectively knew we didn't play good when we went up there and got blown out.
"You know, then you bounce back. I always say it's a first to four. We can't worry about one game. We just have to keep getting better and better, and get some momentum going throughout the series."
